The global pandemic forced businesses around the world to shift from onsite work arrangements to online workspaces. Organizations and their employees had to adapt quickly to the unexpected changes brought about by the health crisis. As a result of these unprecedented times, conventional management and leadership styles are no longer enough to ensure the efficiency and productivity of an entire organization.
Supporting and increasing the overall value of the workforce has always been a business goal, but it has never been more crucial for the future of work as it is today.
Learning and Development Amid the Pandemic
Lockdowns, quarantines, new health protocols, and safety regulations have transformed how various business sectors go about their operations. These policies, which are continuously evolving, pose certain challenges for senior leaders and human resource managers. Previous Learning and Development (L&D) plans need significant structural changes to meet the demands of a virtual workforce.
It is crucial for employers and employees to ensure that authentic learning and development takes place in an organization, especially now that employees are experiencing a skills gap when it comes to efficiently using new systems for work. Without proper training, many employees cannot cope with the demands of a virtual work environment. Completing work-related tasks from their home presents a new set of challenges — and contrary to the initial impressions about remote work, it’s not as easy and laid-back as most professionals expected.
Flexible Work Arrangements and Their Effects
There are advantages and disadvantages to remote work and flexible work arrangements. Now that employees have more personal control over their schedule and work environment, employers are less likely to experience turnovers of their valued team members. Unfortunately, some workers are having problems when it comes to maintaining a clear delineation between work and home. They take advantage of the flexibility and fail to exercise discipline by using work time for non-work-related activities.
With remote work and flexible work arrangements, corporate training and teaching had to be delivered online. When the pandemic began, not all companies were familiar with the electronic learning (eLearning) platforms that could offer training for countless skills and competencies. Even with the pandemic, it still took some time before many organizations found the right (L&D) platform — one that could be integrated into their current learning and development infrastructure.
How Technology Impacts the Workplace
Today, not everyone feels the same way about remote work as compared to their initial impressions when the pandemic began. However, despite adverse reactions and negative feedback, there is a silver lining that to the current situation. It has demonstrated how technology will ultimately change the future of work and transform communication between managers and employees in the workplace.
Using the right technology, employees can now be even more productive and efficient than before. For many companies, the impact of technology on work and the addition of flexible work arrangements has exponentially improved the way people perform and how fast they can produce quality results.
The remote work design offers new options for collaboration, making quality interactions more achievable. Online communication tools and platforms allow team members to hold remote meetings, review editable documents in real-time, and track the progress of each specific project without the need for everyone to be online at once.
The future of work and lifelong learning now lies in the hands of technology. Without the help of the right tools and platforms, many organizations would have struggled to survive, much less thrive in their field. Now, more than ever is the time to leverage technology and use it to achieve increase productivity, profits, and overall success.
